Little lost Tiki's Art Chronicles and Stuffs! Page 70!A brief Return,BUT! Some new pieces to Delight YOU!!!

See Last Page for latest Entries...Mahalo!

Here's my Very FIRST Entry on Tiki Central!
Hi folks!
I'm kinda new to this so please bear with me.I just joined yesterday,properly introduced myself in General Tiki and now would like to share some paintings with you.I'm working on pieces for an upcoming show and will post paintings,drawings,and watercolors if the response is favorable.I'd really like to meet some of you artists and art lovers in this tropical genre and would really like some input.The regular arts community is kinda schizophrenic but there must be something about a tropical breeze and a mai tai that really grounds you tiki fellars!It's 12:11 and I just got done on a painting jag but really wanted to post some work. I'll check back here every day or two and write anyone back and hopefully make some new friends! Mahalo! Ken

This one is called "Arrival of the Pineapple King" It's 6x4 foot-very fun!
The story behind it is the long-awaited return of the Pineapple King to his loyal subjects.Pretty basic.I wanted the characters to be the story in this one,Sort of like when you're at a family bbq and ,after rehashing the day in your mind,it wasn't the bbq,it was the people you encountered and joked and laughed with,Sorta that kinda vibe.....I finally got this one to post! Oh happy Day!
Thanks to all of you for all your help!

[ Edited by little lost tiki on 2022-05-17 10:11:12 ]

[ Edited by little lost tiki on 2023-08-12 00:10:40 ]

Its cool. Just sent you a PM (translation: personal message :))to assist you.

Welcome to Tiki Central. Thanks for sharing your art with us. :)

[ Edited by: I dream of tiki 2006-06-15 09:40 ]

thats cool! like a tiki wheres waldo

Thanks so much I dream of Tiki! You're a lifesaver! Unfortunately,I registered with my e-mail at work so I won't get your PM til tomorrow! What's a PM by the way?Being an ex-jarhead 20 years ago it meant "Preventive Maintenance".I tell you ,I'm a better painter than computer operator! I'll get your e-mail tomorrow and will post some more work then! Many Mahalos and nice to meet you!

Oh I get it! Personal Message! duh on me!

[ Edited by: little lost tiki 2006-06-15 12:18 ]

Thanks for the look,John! Where's Waldo indeed! It does get kind of like that when I'm painting in detail and up-close.I've been caught doing the palm tree texture on a riverbank,you name it.Time just flies and all of a sudden all the lighting is done! Sometimes during an exhibit,I'll catch a flower without a highlight or a shadow that needs another color next to it or something hidden from most,but glaring to the artist.The piece is so huge,that it feels like you're about to walk right into it when you're up close.Well,I gotta go to work tomorrow at 8 so I'm off! Thanks for reading my post and hope to talk again soon!

visit http://www.kenruzic.com and you will smile.

[ Edited by: little lost tiki 2006-06-15 09:24 ]

Some detail in there. Kool :)

whoa!!..you may want to lay off the speed alittle!! ..neat stuff....

No speed Tipsy! Just coffee and pure Stoke!It's one of those things where I have to create or Madness sets in!Half of a painting is the challenge itself...the size/number of characters,how do they get along.where do they live,etc....I like to approach big major paintings in between smaller watercolors and sketchbook studies.I have a studio in Orange where I work Thursday nights and Fridays,and the rest of the week after work,I have a home studio in the garage where I put in some time.Thanks for checking out my lil' hobby!Mahalo!

Thanks for the help Hewey! Shutterfly doesn't seem to get along with my Mac-so I tried it using the pix from my website and voila! Thanks all of you! As a little thank you I'm posting a 5'metal butterfly I painted for KOCE's Butterfly Initiative.This bigtime collector gentleman swept up this one and Drew Brophy's for a song! Anyways, they're livening up this guy's yard and adding some more surf and tiki mana to SoCAL! I'll post more soon! Thanks again! I feel like I've known y'all forever!

I really like the detail in the butterfly. The butterfly pattern melding into the tiki characters works nicely.

Thanks for the new, fresh perspective on "creating tiki".

Thanks i dream of tiki!
The underside is all faux wood with hibiscus plumeria and tikis carved into the shapes of the wing.The color's kinda weak,but in person it'll pop yer eyes out!
I'll post my tiki surfboard next time I post somethin! Thanks again to you and to all the TC family for makin' me feel right at home!

Here's one more post then I'm stopping for a bit! Glad y'all like my babies! Here's a surfboard for my show in August.It's kind of a hot and cold colored trip.Hope you like it.Still gotta paint the fins but that's minor. It's certainly not a Drew Brophy,but that guy has it down to a science!

[ Edited by: little lost tiki 2011-09-27 11:34 ]

WOnderful art, and I love your surfboard too!
I'm looking for one to paint at the moment.

Well thanks tikiwahine!
It's been hard to find boards and when you do find a hand-me-down or thrift store one-you gotta scrape all the wax off and stuff! And forget buying a brand new one-they have no mana yet! I used Bestine and a razor blade to scrape it but be careful-it makes your skin all irritated so wash your hands frequently or just wear gloves!Stinky too! Fumes can be a good thing when you're an artist,but not too much!Thanks for the holler and post that surfboard after you finally get-r-done!

E Komo Mai Little Lost Tiki,
Really neat stuff LLT. I dig your colors and the movement your work has. I really like that multi eyed tiki in the first painting. very cool!

Chongolio

welcome to tc your art looks so kool and the surf boards ar owesome.

Thanks for the great advice! I forgot all about the pre-paint clean-up I'll have to do.

Great,great stuff! Lots to look at. I dig it! If you're ever down San Diego way let me know.

Wow!
I do a lil' work and decide to check the post and wow! Really stoked to hear the opinion of Tiki experts! Chongolio! You got some pretty cool and fun stuff! Your colors just make me happy! I love Ocean Man!What a cruiser! That sun got me thinking about this piece I'm currently working on with the Sun and the Happy Hut.Here's a Happy Hut ink/watercolor for you to enjoy! The characters are all tapa-oceanic decorative motif-inspired.They sleep all over the hut by night,decorating him up quite fancy...then thay pop off in the morning and do what they do...BTW that multi-eyed guy is the Seer.He's one of the Pineapple King's advisors and confidantes.

Mr Matt Reese-that name sure sounds familiar! Are you famous or something? If not you must be paying the "man" to microwave your name into my head 'cause I'm certain I've heard it before....I rarely leave work here or at the studio but if I do head down to SD I'll post you a message and we can play show-n-tell! Last time i was in SD I hit the street scene after the Action Sports (years ago) it was all a blur! Way too much beer! Back in the day it was like a gated off Town of the Living Drunks! Miracle I survived....

Tiki beat! Thanks for the kudos and glad you like the board.I'm selling it at my one man show ib Santa Ana in August! Saw some of your carvings-rad!I wish I didn't have such weak lady arms or I'd 'ave a go at carving! Well, enough ramblin' on bosse's dime! Here's the pic!

tikiwahine-when you find a board gimme a heads up and I'll fly up and help you prep it! Actually not,but if you have any??? please be sure towrite!Now hurry up and find that perfect board!

Aw what the hey! Here's one more and then I gotta haul butt from work to my studio in Orange for some art time! This one is called "Night Parade" and it's about as deep as that....A parade....at night! Hence the title....

Have a great weekend y'all!

[ Edited by: little lost tiki 2006-06-15 16:25 ]

WOW, Night Parade rocks! Love the colors!

true art

Man oh man, Little Lost Tiki, that Night Parade looks like molten lava. Just gorgeous!

More great work - Im really liking your stuff. :)

How did you paint that board? Im getting a surf ski soon and want to give it a bit of character and style

Thanks for all your comments everyone! I'll definetely post more pieces in the futere so check back every once in a while!
Hey Hewey!
Here's how i got the board all prepped and purty.This info is also directed towards tikiwahine when she tackles her board...Best place to get the boards if you're low-budge is from friends with old ones or check Craigslist and stuff.The only drawback is it might be cracked/missing fins-which isn't too bad to fix/and they're usually covered in wax! They have special glues and resin kits that are little for those kind of repairs.Getting the wax off sucks! All you surfers know that! Scrape off as much as you can-then I used Bestine and a razor blade and paper towels =pour Bestine scrape with razor Wipe onto paper towel.Repeat about a hundred times-(I've only painted 3 boards so if anyone knows a better way to remove wax...)When you finally get it done you'll know.Hold it up and look with your eyes right next to the board and you'll see anymore bumps. I suppose you could gesso it first-but I don't know if it's stretchy enough so I never use it.What I do is use water soluble crayons to sketch out the board(based on your sketchbook study of course-planning is key! but you would know that) Then I use acrylic and get all the colors-shading-lighting-texture down on it-repeat for other side-fins too if you got'em!
After that's dry I cover it with a few coats of matte or satin brush-on varnish-sealer(UV
friendly would help) After that is dry I go and add a bit more detail lighting and shading to give it some umph! Then I seal it again-and back up on it and add even more little details in spots.(I use the "squint test" to check for errors... You back up on a piece squint yer eyes and look at the piece-glaring errors in color and composition will be easier to spot! Dali used to have his wife take his paintings half-done and she would hide them in places so when he would turn a corner or go into the garden ...there would be his piece New to his eyes and he could examine it with an unbiased filter) After those 3 acrylic and seals it's time for the paintpens which I will do 1-color first-seal-next color-seal etc. After all your paintpens are sealed Do 1-more seal then spray over that with a couple coats of UV spray (if your varnish doesn't have that protection) then seal over that with the matte varnishand you got it!Doing all those coats of sealent raises each layer of paint above the other for a nice subtle below the surface interest! Here's a detail!

Here's another ink and pen drawing for my children's book I've been writing on and off for a few years.One day I looked around and I had more than enough pieces for an exhibition but no book yet! Needless to say,I'm having that exhibit this August in Santa Ana and will continue to work on the story in the meantime! This one makes me smile and I hope it makes you do the same!

WOW- LLT, this stuff really, REALLY, rocks!

Thanks surf-n-turf!
Just checked out your site! My favorite is Dr.Smiley's ....This is the kinda stuff I do at my (unfortunate) day job>I'm a creative director in a tee company in Laguna Canyon Laguna Beach! We do everything from lowest common denominator one-liners to way upper-end stuff! We just did a few shirts inspired by those Hawaiian Sugar burlap bags-Also found some old High Times and they had a few Pakalolo styles.We re-routed the vibe to Mexico since that whole LA-So Cal vibe is hot right now for us!I'll be posting new stuff here-n-there when I stop drawing and painting and get some time to scan! In the meantime,check out my website(below) and get ready to grin from ear to ear- Or your smile back!

visit http://www.kenruzic.com and you will smile!

[ Edited by: little lost tiki 2006-06-21 21:20 ]

Thanks for the run down mate! Sounds involved... Cant wait to tiki up my surf ski though :)

Just checking out the website - nice stuff. Especially "green village"

Thanks Hewey!
It's really not that hard-just time consuming.paint-seal-dry...repeat.It's well worth the effort but Please,test all sealants on a practice area first! I've lost 2-3 nice pieces that way! One time I didn't read the can and sealed over a crisp clear painting with an opalescent sealent-It looked like it drank a few London Fogs!Plus,while each layer is drying,you can work on other pieces.Speaking of pieces,I have more than enough pieces for the upcoming show, but the inspiration from y'all at TC just takes hold of me so be on the lookout here for some more fun stuff!! Thanks for checking out the site-Green Village is really fun to look at up close and just to really look around the place.I decided for just the huts with no ocfcupants in order to allow the architecture to communicate the narrative.Thanks for the props!Here's a brand new one that I'm currently painting.I'll show the sketchbook study for now and post my progress later!

[ Edited by: little lost tiki 2006-07-18 22:28 ]

Ken- I just had a look at your website--you're a madman! Everything is awesome-so much to look at, not just on your website but in each individual piece. I really need to get a 'real' website put together. Do you have prints for sale? Would really like to see some of your tee designs also. Keep up the fantaaaaaaastic work!-and give us more, more, more, more!!!!!

Hey surf-n-turf!
Thanks man! Great hearing from others along the same train of thought! Because of Company privacy issues,I can't post our latest greatest tees...But if you're ever in town and wanna swing by the studio in Orange,CA-gimme a shout! Every once in awhile,a bunch of us designers will get together to talk shop and brainstorm-really fun stuff! I think I do have one tee shirt design online and it's from ISMquarterly.com.There was a tee contest and I got 3rd place(all the back issues and a free subscription!) The tee is called "Hai Karate" and is just the tip of the iceberg! Send me a PM with your address and I'll burn ya a disc of some of me favorites!How is the design business in your neck of the woods?You got a great website,it shows you work and is simple to get around!My webguy hooked it up so I have access behind the scenes and can change verbage and pieces-piece of cake! As for prints-I'm working on 6 limited edition prints(2 are tiki-1 is a stained glass fish-1 is a watercolor of a mechanical swamp-1isa piece called "the conversation" with a man in aboat talking to a fish-the original sold so I got it scanned for prints)These prints will be 96 bit 9000 ppi and we can make 'em up to about 6x6 feet!They're printed on canvas-museum wrapped and embellished by hand very neat and pretty! I plan on releasing them the night of my show and will post the goods on there! These things are so detailed that you can see hairs on it and all these little microscopic things that your eye would never see! They look just like the originals-probably better!I'll post those as soon as I get the good scans back!
Keep plugging chum,it's the only way that things get done!

Because of Company privacy issues,I can't post our latest greatest tees...

That's understandable. The peeps I work for should do the same. My stuff gets knocked off CONSTANTLY!

How is the design business in your neck of the woods?

We take a bunch of designs down to the International Surf Expo (trade show type thing for resortwear/giftshop, etc. industry) in Orlando, Fl. twice a year. Get lotsa business there. Pretty much got the mailand U.S., Hawaii, Guam and most of the Caribbean islands covered in fine tee's from yo's truly.

Those ltd. edition prints sound like they are going to be hot! Can't wait to see them!

Surf-n-Turf
Sorry!
that sounded so corporate! "privacy issues"! Getting knocked off is a badge of honor-an homage from younger designers who will eventually replace us when we burn out! Anyways,like your markets-all tropical and laid back! What a great area/demographic to cater to!They'll keep your shirts the longest-'cause of the memories!You certainly have an eye for well-crafted old school design and colors! Where the heck is Folly Beach? Anyways, this page doesn't have a picture yet,so.......here's one on wood with gouache/black and gold ink!

visit http://www.kenruzic.com and you will smile.

[ Edited by: little lost tiki 2006-06-23 00:15 ]

Thanks LLT and comps back at you. You've got the killer color thing going on, man! I like the little 'XXX' on the tiki's 'peepee flap'. Too cool.

Folly Beach is waaaay over here on the 'right coast' just outside of Charleston, South Cackalacky. The city calls itself "The Edge of America" but I prefer "Mayberry by the Sea" because it's a tiny, sleepy, close-knit community--a place where you might run into an 'Andy Taylor' or an 'Aunt Bea' and we've even got a few 'Barney Fife's' running around here too.

http://www.cityoffollybeach.com/index.html

http://www.follysurfcam.com/

http://www.oceansurfshop.com/surfreport.html

I just signed up yesterday. So I thought I'd post two tiki things I've made.

Hard shell gourd with pyrography.

Hand carved stamp on tissue paper.

Thanks for sharing tiki mermaid! Welcome to TC! So what's this pyrography thing all about?It looks like fun! Is it woodburning?Like your second one as well,especially the colors in that bleed!

As I promised a few days ago-here's a piece I painted with ink and paint pens on a big 3" round canvas! It has this nifty bevelling on the side! This painting was a little tropical paradise for my wife.My studio hut is the one nearest to the volcano,feeding off of Pele's fire and Inspiration.

Cool man! So much colour and detail - just like a flower garden in the jungle :)

thanks again Hewey!Being down under,you're a lot closer to this kind of tropical paradise than I am!Here's a green village that I finally finished about two weeks ago! It was half done for almost a year! I guess being on TC and chatting it up with fellow arteests really does inspire one.This village is kind of a blend of different cultures and then some,twisted around into an idyllic paradise-isn't that what tiki's all about? Cheers!
"Green Village" ink-sharpie-colored pencil(water-soluble)

HEy Little Lost Tiki, you have posted some Super interesting and Lovable art. I Love the minute detail you are adding and the colors really make your work sizzle.
Welcome to TC and Keep on POsting.

Thanks Benzart!
Checked out your site and love those small carvings!It must have been quite a transition from the bigger pieces! Your detail and aesthetic are out of control! If you haven't been to Benz' site-go check it out!
http://benzartstuff.com
Crazy small pieces!Details rule! Thanks for the props! I've been getting ready for a huge one man show in August,but I'll post new stuff when I can! Seeing that you are a lover of detail...I present you with "the Evening Visit",I think it's around 2x4 and it's gouache on gessoed panel with water soluble pencils.

Aloha LLT,

Where do you start??

( your art/tech. baffels me!! :)

Stunning! STUNNING! as usual. wouldn't expect anything less from the visionary genius Ken Ruzic!

Aloha Fellow Creators!
To hear such kind words from fellow artists/artisans really makes you wanna create more! No wonder those art movements of old (Dada/Surrealists/Symbolists) produced so much! It was because they shared ideas and art and advice and encouragement! Thank you! And Ben,the sole reason I paint is so I can afford to have you transform my home into a tropical Hideaway.Gotta work on getting the home first...Your work is incredible,Ben-you're a true "master of your craft" (Sorry,that sounded kinda freemason-ish) as well as living legend! Thanks for the kudos Rev! I'm posting a meeting hut (of sorts) for you-I wonder what a meeting hut built by your hand would look like?

"the Meeting Hut" 4x6'
acrylic,paintpen,on canvas

I cant get enough of these. So much detail and colour. Amazing work.

Thanks Rodeotiki!
I realized i hadn't shared any of my drawings.I'm working on a kid's book and also a book full of my studies (tiki and otherwise) from the past 3-4 years.I've finished about 7 mostly tikitropicaloceania-inspired sketchbooks since last May 05 and decided to slam tham all together into a book or two for the August show.Here's a lil' teaser! (Sorry-it got cropped in Shutterfly for some reason!)

This is just an example page-Seeing I had so many tikis I had to scan them,shrink them and put them on pages(One per page-a 900 page book is a wee too big!)
See kids! You draw a little bit everyday and you not only improve but you'll have enough drawings to make a book!

visit http://www.kenruzic.com and you will smile.

[ Edited by: little lost tiki 2006-07-02 11:42 ]

Wow man. Great stuff :)

Hey Hewey!
I'll be getting my invitations this week for the August Tiki Show.I'll send yours off by the end of the week.Which means it should get there around Christmas!
Hey! If anyone else wants to get an invite to the show mailed directly to their home,just PM your address and I'll mail one off.It's postcard size and has a great reproduction of "the Arrival of the Pineapple King" (we took it from the giclee scan so it's pretty tight!)on one side and artist's reception info on the other!

'the Family Tree" gouache and ink on wood